A Deeper Connection
by inazumahunter
Summary: Takeru and Iori are having trouble with the new Jogress Evolution that allows them to combine their Digimon. They decide to try to develop a better friendship with each other, but just how far will they go? Takeru/Iori, with brief Daisuke/Ken. Shota/yoai. Don't like, don't read.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! I'm back, this time with a Digimon story. I've always thought this pairing was a bit under utilized. This is planned to be two chapters long. Without further ado, on with the story.

* * *

Iori lagged behind the other Digidestined as they exited the computer lab of the school. They had just returned from yet another battle in the Digital World, and things had not gone especially well. His Jogress Evolution attempt with Takeru had failed yet again. The group had decided to leave their Digimon behind in the digital world to give them a chance to rest up in a familiar environment.

"This is so frustrating," the young boy thought to himself. "We're the only ones that can't do it. First it was Daisuke and Ken. Then Miyako and Hikari were even able to do it."

As Iori finally left the classroom, he looked up and was surprised to see someone waiting right outside.

"Yo, Iori," Takeru said flashing a smile. "You okay? Looked like you were doing some serious thinking in there."

"Takeru-san...I'm just not understanding why we can't be like the others. At this rate we'll just hold them back and be a bother to them on the battle field," Iori stated, his voice growing louder with each passing phrase.

Takeru's face turned serious as he answered. "Yeah, I've been giving that some thought too Iori. It's definitely something we need to fix. I do have an idea, if you're willing to hear it."

"Of course, Takeru-san," Iori said, his voice falling back into its normal disciplined tone.

"Well, that right there would be the first thing, buddy. Can you drop the "san" thing?" Iori looked puzzled as Takeru continued. "I think the problem is, we're not close like the other pairings are. Ken and Daisuke have become really good friends lately since Ken switched over to our side. Meanwhile Miyako and Hikari have that girl power connection thing going. Meanwhile, I don't really feel like I know you that well at all."

"I suppose that's true, what with us being in different grades and all. So how do you propose to change this, Takeru-sa...er...Takeru?" Iori asked.

"Well I'm glad you asked partner. Here's the deal," the older boy began.

Takeru went on to tell him that he thought the best thing would be for them to start hanging out together outside of the school setting. That way they could get a better feel for each other's interests and personalities. This, he reasoned, would lead to better cohesion on the battlefield and increase their chances to be able to Jogress evolve like the others.

Iori nodded silently as he took it all in. When Takeru finished, the younger boy smiled. "Okay, that sounds fine to me. If it will help us win, I'll do anything. Um, not that hanging out with you is something I dread or anything," Iori tried to backtrack as he realized how that sounded.

Takeru merely laughed though. "Don't worry about it, I got your drift. So, you have any plans tonight?"

"I just have to go to kendo practice. After that, since it's Friday, I should be free," Iori replied.

"Awesome. Well, why don't you come over and spend the night tonight? My mom is outta town visiting relatives, but she won't mind. We can order some pizza, play some video games, or maybe watch a movie" the blonde boy proposed.

"Well, I'll have to ask my mom, but it shouldn't be a problem. She knows I'm a pretty good judge of character. If I tell her you're a stand-up guy that never gets in trouble, it'll be fine. In other words, I'll just have to lie to her," Iori stated solemnly.

"Wh-what!?" Takeru exclaimed, and then relaxed as he saw the small boy crack a wry smile. "Oh, that was a joke huh? See, I didn't know you were capable of making those. Nice one."

The two boys laughed before finalizing the details of their plans. Iori would text Takeru once he had received permission to stay over. If all went well, they would meet up at around 7:30 pm. The blonde grinned broadly and waved as Iori jogged away.

"He seemed excited," Takeru thought to himself. "I guess he's not all serious business all the time."

Just then the boy's cell phone vibrated in his pocket, signaling a text message. He took it out and saw it was from Daisuke. The message was straightforward and simple.

_**Well, did you tell him yet?**_

The fifth-grader sighed as he pounded out a response. Daisuke was notorious for being impatient and impulsive. Something like this wasn't something he could just come out and say with no warning!

_**Working on it. He's coming over tonight. I'll explain things to him then**_

Takeru put his phone away and started walking home himself, deep in thought. How had he gotten into this mess? His face started turning red as the memories from a week ago came flooding back.

~ _Flashback to last Friday_

Takeru had already been halfway home when he realized he had forgotten to bring his gym clothes home to wash them. He always brought them home over the weekend. He stopped and pondered if going all the way back to school was worth it or not, before ultimately deciding it would probably be worse for him on Monday if he was the smelly kid in gym class. With a heavy sigh, the blonde turned around and headed back for his school.

When he arrived, the school looked pretty deserted. "Of course it is," Takeru thought bitterly, "everyone else is already home either relaxing or thinking about weekend plans. No one sticks around on a Friday."

The boy walked through the side door and headed to the locker rooms. As he entered, he was surprised to hear some sounds of activity coming from the back, near where his locker was. Hmm, perhaps someone else had forgotten something too. That was awfully loud panting going on though. They must've run the whole way there, or-

Whatever the other thought was in Takeru's mind quickly exited as he turned the corner and saw quite the scene unfold before his eyes. Apparently the noise had been so loud because it was two boys he had heard, not one. But what made the blonde stop short was the fact that both of the boys were completely naked! One of the two was bent over, while the other was thrusting into him from behind. The youth who was bent over had pale, smooth skin, which stood in stark contrast to the darker brown tone of his companion.

"Oh my God," Takeru thought to himself, "I've got to get outta here now!" As he was trying to will his body to turn around and leave though, he caught a glimpse of the darker boy's face. It was Daisuke! Takeru's eyes then quickly scanned to the face of the other. Ken! Daisuke and Ken, together!

The spiky-haired youth had a steady rhythm going, beads of sweat standing out on his forehead. His left hand rested on Ken's hip, as his right hand reached around and was stroking the purple-haired boy's length, keeping in perfect time with his own thrusts. Suddenly, Ken let out a moan, and soon Daisuke's hand was coated in the cum of the former Digimon Kaiser. Daisuke wasn't far behind. He let out a grunt of his own, releasing deep inside of the other boy as he felt Ken's insides tighten around his member.

The whole scene Takeru had just witness had only taken 30 seconds, but he felt as if he'd been standing there forever. He finally came to his senses and tried to leave before he was spotted. But as he attempted to quickly turn, his foot banged into one of the lockers. The blonde winced as he looked over his shoulder and saw the other two staring at him, mouths agape.

"Ta-takeru!" Daisuke cried. He unceremoniously pulled out of Ken, making the purple-haired boy hiss in pain. "Oh, sorry Ken," he said genuinely.

The brown-haired boy turned toward Takeru, fully exposing himself. His slightly toned upper body was glistening with sweat as his mouth tried to form some sort of explanation. Takeru's eye's drifted downward and saw Daisuke's member still dripping with a mixture of different bodily fluids.

"Idiot," Ken snapped at Daisuke, "Takeru doesn't wanna see that." With that, he handed Daisuke a towel, having already wrapped one around himself.

"Probably a bit late for that," Takeru thought. He had already seen more of either boy than he had ever thought possible. On top of that, he noted with color rising to his cheeks, both of them seemed to be a bit more endowed than he was.

"Um, Takeru," Ken began, snapping the blonde out of his trance, "this is probably a lot to take in for you, but there is an explanation. It's just a little awkward to give it in our current state. So if you could maybe wait for us outside while we showered and got dressed..."

"Oh! Umm...right. Sorry," Takeru stuttered.

"No problem, we'll be out in five minutes," Ken replied, dragging a still speechless Daisuke with him to the showers.

Takeru gingerly stepped around the spurts of cum on the floor, grabbed his gym clothes from his locker, and quickly exited the locker room. True to his word, Ken exited the locker room within a matter of minutes, with Daisuke trailing meekly behind.

"Let's get off school grounds before it starts to look suspicious," Ken suggested.

They found a local park not far from the school and selected a picnic table to sit at, with Takeru on one side and the other two facing him.

"Well, let's just cut to the chase," Ken started in a very matter of fact manner, "you obviously witnessed Daisuke and I having sex."

"Not one for beating around the bush, eh Ken," Daisuke said with a nervous laugh. "At any rate Takeru, we'd like to apologize for you having witnessed that. We should've been more careful about choosing a location. It's just not easy for us to find a place."

"Hey guys, this wouldn't have happened if I wasn't so forgetful," Takeru said, forcing a smile.

"Well, be that as it may, what Daisuke said was true. We weren't cautious enough, and for that we're sorry. This may sound weird, but I'm kind of glad you found out, even if it wasn't in the most ideal way," Ken stated.

"I appreciate that, but even though you guys are my friends, whatever personal choices you make in your life are really none of my business," Takeru said awkwardly.

"That would be true, if this didn't directly involve you Takeru," Daisuke interjected.

"Me?!" the blonde exclaimed.

Takeru settled in as Ken and Daisuke took turns explaining. The pair had been struggling to get on the same page back when Ken had first reformed his ways and joined the group of DigiDestined. The constant tension between the two of them had threatened to tear the whole group apart. That's when Gennai, the elderly advisor to the DigiDestined, had stepped in to offer some words of wisdom.

"He basically told us that our current relationship wasn't sufficient to save the Digital World," Daisuke said. "He also hinted that once we reached a connection of a deep enough level, we would obtain unimaginable power. We decided it was worth a shot, and so we started hanging out together on the weekends and stuff."

"And, to spare you some detail," Ken cut in, "we weren't really seeing any results in our battles until...well until something happened between us while I was staying the night at Daisuke's house. The next time we battled was the first time we were able to use the Jogress Evolution."

"I see," Takeru said slowly. "Well, I kinda see. I still don't know why this has to do anything with..." Takeru trailed off as the pieces began to fall into place. Ken and Daisuke were having trouble before they...got together. He and Iori were now having the same problem...

The blonde's face turned a deep shade of red as he realized what the two were proposing. "W-wait a minute. This may have worked for you guys, but...I mean Iori is still even more of a kid than we are. How could I possibly even broach this topic with him?"

"Yeah, we thought this would be hard as well, that's why we hesitated telling you about this for so long," Daisuke said with a wry smile. "Listen, we're not forcing you to do anything. We're not even suggesting you do it. But we thought we owed you an explanation after what you saw, so...there it is."

As Takeru settled into deep thought, Ken gave Daisuke a nudge in the ribs with his elbow. Taking the hint, the goggled youth spoke once again.

"We don't mean to shock you like this and run Takeru, but we really do have to get going."

"Huh? Oh, sure. Go ahead. I have a lot of thinking to do on my own anyways," the blonde said.

And with that, Daisuke and Ken left him sitting on the bench alone, wondering what in the world he could do in this situation.

~ End of flashback

Takeru sighed as he finally reached home. The past week of battles had led him to the realization that there was nothing left to lose by informing Iori of the situation. The enemies in the Digital World were growing stronger and stronger, and he and Iori were the weak links of the team now. This feeling of hopelessness gave Takeru the much needed push to at least tell the fourth-grader what he knew. As he was mulling over exactly how the night would go, he felt his phone vibrate again.

"I swear to God, if that's Daisuke again," he threatened as he pulled his phone out.

_**Mom said it was okay. Be over at 7:30 as planned. ~Iori**_

As Takeru messaged back a confirmation, there was only one thing going through his mind. There was no going back now.

* * *

Well, there's chapter 1. Please review! The more reviews, the faster the story gets updated.


	2. Chapter 2

OMG, I'm soooooo sorry this took so long. What a bad author I am leaving you guys hanging, but I ran into a huge case of writer's block. Please forgive me! Also...fair warning, this chapter ends in a bit of a cliffhanger. But I do have a surprise for you guys in the author's note at the end. Enjoy!

* * *

_**Sounds good buddy, see you then ~Takeru**_

Iori put his phone down after reading the confirmation message. Getting permission had been easy, just as he thought. It was made that much easier when he told his mom that Takeru lived in the same building as them, just a couple floors up. Truth be told, his mother was probably thrilled at the plans. Iori was somewhat of a loner, rarely going out except for school and kendo practice. It wasn't that he was really unpopular, as he had a group of friends at school who he conversed with. However outside of school hours, he never hung out with them.

The young boy was excited as he got ready for kendo practice, checking his bag to make sure all his gear was in there. As this was such a rare occurrence he wanted to be sure that everything went okay. Being an only child, he kind of missed the experience of having a big brother figure in his life, and Takeru filled that void in every way imaginable. He was cool, athletic and a good-looking guy who was popular with the girls. But he never let any of that go to his head and he remained kind to everyone.

"I know we're just hanging out to help with our teamwork." Iori thought to himself, "Takeru-san is just seeing this as strictly business. He wouldn't want to spend time with me otherwise. I can't get too clingy just to fulfill my own need for acceptance."

Still though, the young boy thought, maybe if he thinks I'm cool enough to hang with, it could extend beyond just business. With these hopes dancing through his head, Iori hurried off to what was sure to be a distracted session of kendo practice.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takeru was busy preparing for his night of hosting. After calling his mother and telling her his plans, the blonde's thoughts soon turned to his houseguest for tonight. He didn't know a whole lot about the kid to be honest, but one thing he always admired about Iori was his maturity. The little guy never seemed to let much bother him. But on the other side of that was the somewhat stiff, no-nonsense demeanor that Iori exuded. On more than one occasion, Takeru had considered trying to make friends with him, only to change his mind at the last minute because the boy seemed too hard to approach. Looking back, he wished he would've followed through. This night might be a whole lot easier.

And speaking of this night, now that he knew what he had to do, Takeru was forced to think of Iori in another aspect - how sexually attracted he was to him. Naturally, the thought hadn't entered his mind before this ordeal. But now that it was jumping out at him, he had to admit that he found the fourth-grader rather cute. In fact, over the past week, Takeru had found himself thinking about him more and more in his free time. In a way, he was sort of glad this night had come, if only to get everything out in the open. The blonde then decided to shower and get into some comfortable lounging clothes before Iori made it over. Besides, it was imperative to be as clean as possible if things might lead to...

Takeru's face turned beet red as his thoughts lingered on what might happen tonight. He hurriedly pushed the images from his head as stepped into the bathroom and stripped naked, feeling the cool tile floor on his feet. He reached into the shower and turned the water on to let it warm up. The blond took a quick look in the mirror while he was waiting, seeing deep blue eyes stare at him in return. He definitely had the lithe body of an athlete - solid but not muscular. His smooth, pale skin was perfectly unblemished, and his face was framed nicely by his short blonde hair. Satisfied, he stepped into the shower and emitted a long sigh, as he let the warm water wash away his worries, if only for a couple minutes.

* * *

As expected, Iori had been highly distracted during practice, making simple mistakes and generally not executing anything correctly. What was unexpected is that the instructor, his grandfather, cut the practice short, telling him to go home for the day.

"You must be pretty excited with whatever plans you have," his grandfather said with a smile. "You usually are very disciplined, no matter what else is going on. No, no. Don't apologize. Just go ahead and head home. A kid is allowed to act like a kid every once in a while. See you on Monday, Iori."

And so the young boy got home a little earlier than planned. After a leisurely shower, he packed his overnight bag with all the essentials - change of clothes, toothbrush, pajamas, and a new video game he had just gotten.

"Alright mom, I'm off," Iori said heading for the door.

"Okay sweetie, good luck. Don't forget to brush your teeth tonight," his mom replied.

And with that he was off, making short work of the small distance between his and Takeru's apartments. He hesitated a moment as he reached his destination, making sure to compose himself. For some reason he was getting nervous. He gathered his courage and knocked firmly on the door.

"Coming!" he heard his friend's voice call from inside, just before the door opened. "Yo, Iori. Right on time, just as expected. The pizza just got here, hope you're hungry."

Takeru ushered the younger boy inside, instructing him to toss his bag by the couch. Iori sat down at the table, and Takeru joined him after a trip to the fridge to grab a couple sodas.

"Ah, root beer, that's my favorite," the brunette stated, taking a long swig.

"Yeah, I kinda remembered you choosing that out of the vending machine last time, so that's what I picked," Takeru smiled.

"Wow," Iori thought to himself, "I didn't know he was paying any attention to me at all, but he even remembered my favorite drink. He really is a nice guy."

The two made small talk throughout the meal, chatting about school, homework, video games, and of course the goings on in the Digital World. Iori was having a really good time. However, he noticed that Takeru seemed to be getting more and more distracted. Pretty soon they were chewing in silence. The brown-haired boy looked across the table just in time to see the older male attempt a bite of his pizza, only to miss it all together. His eyes were just staring out into space, not focusing on anything . Something was definitely on his mind!

"Um, Takeru, are you alright?" Iori questioned. "You kinda just missed your food entirely with that last bite."

Takeru snapped out of his trance with a start. "Oh, sorry buddy. I was just thinking about something"

"Well," the young boy started shyly, "you looked really worried there for a second. If you need to talk about it, um, that is if you want to, you can tell me."

It was now or never. This was the best chance Takeru could ever hope to receive.

"Actually, Iori, it involves you," the blonde stated.

"Me!? Did I do something wrong?" Iori asked worriedly.

"No, no. Not at all," Takeru assured the boy. He then let out a long sigh, and began recounting to the lad everything that had happened in the past week. Forgetting his gym clothes, walking in on Daisuke and Ken, and then the information that those two had told him afterwards.

As he was explaining, Takeru kept an eye on his young friend for any trace of facial reactions. Anything to tell what he was thinking. But the fourth-grader just sat there stoically, his face betraying nothing as he took it all in. Even when the point had been driven home of what implications the story had on him, the boy's calm demeanor was hardly ruffled. The blonde wrapped up his story and waited for a response. Instead, the younger male just sat there, deep in thought.

"Now listen Iori, I just want to make this clear. You don't have to do _anything_ at all that you don't want to. I just thought it would be unfair of me to keep such important information to myself. After all, we all care about the Digital World, and have friends that live there. I can't make a decision of this magnitude by myself," Takeru said.

"Okay, I understand everything you've told me," Iori said, finally breaking his silence. "I just need a little time to process it. Don't get me wrong, I like you. You're really nice and all. This is just a big step, and we're pretty young."

"I know, and I'm sorry for putting you in this situation, but I just didn't know what else to do," the blonde said, lowering his head.

"On the contrary Takeru, I appreciate you being able to tell me this. That you would trust me with such an important and...compromising secret means a lot to me. Thank you," the younger said with a smile. "Like I said though I need a little time. However, if it's alright with you, I was quite enjoying myself before this. So I was thinking we could just continue with the rest of the night like a normal sleepover? At least until I've made a decision."

"Of course!" Takeru exclaimed, brightening. It had felt so good to get that load of his chest. It had been weighing on him the whole week. "You know something, you amaze me, to be able to take that in stride, and remain so calm."

He looked up to see Iori's face finally betray him, as it blushed slightly from the praise.

"At any rate, that's the last I'll say about it. Let's finish eating," the blonde said with a smile.

And so they did, with Takeru much more relaxed than before, and the conversation once again resumed its normal flow. After they were done eating, they talked about what they should do next.

"How about a movie?" Takeru suggested. "I finally got the one I've been waiting for from Netflix in the mail today."

"Sure, which one is it?" Iori asked. He then cringed inwardly as the blonde named off a new horror title that was all the rage at the moment. Despite his no-nonsense exterior, scary movies were the one thing that the younger boy didn't really handle well! Nevertheless, he couldn't let Takeru know that. He didn't want to seem childish, now more than ever, given the situation they were in. So he decided to just grin and bear it. "Ah, yeah, I've been wanting to see that one too. Awesome."

"Sweet. Go ahead and have a seat on the couch," the older male said. He turned on the TV and popped the movie in, before going around and shutting all the lights in the room off. "Oh, I should've asked, you don't mind do you Iori? Kind of gives the appropriate setting for the movie."

"Mind? Is there any other way to watch a horror film?" the brunette said with a laugh, all the while squirming on the inside. He didn't think this was going to end well.

Takeru took a seat on the opposite side of the couch from Iori, leaving a whole cushion of space between them. He thought it was wise to give the boy some space at this time. However only ten minutes into the movie, the space between the two had shrunk to only half a cushion. The younger boy had subconsciously moved over gradually eliminating the distance that separated them. Takeru looked over worriedly, as the brunette had already jumped three or four times since the start of the movie.

"Um, buddy, you alright?" Takeru asked.

Iori looked over at him, and forced a smile. "Yeah, just fine. I'm just gonna go get a drink real quick. No need to pause the movie."

Takeru looked unconvinced, but didn't pursue it further. When the younger boy returned, he sat right next to the blonde, settling in shoulder to shoulder. Takeru was surprised, but said nothing as they continued to watch. However, it was soon the blonde's turn to jump a bit, as he felt skin contact with the younger boy. Both of them were wearing shorts, and Iori was so close now that their legs were touching. Iori's skin was so smooth and soft. Takeru was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. Maybe the movie wasn't such a good idea.

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the air from the television, as the fictional killer claimed yet another victim. That was the last straw for Iori, as he practically jumped in Takeru's lap and hid his face in the older boy's chest. The blonde hurriedly turned off the movie before wrapping his arms around his young friend in a comforting embrace.

"Hey man, it's okay. It's only a movie, and it's gone now," Takeru said reassuringly. They were so close now, Takeru could smell the strawberry scent of the boy's shampoo. He inhaled deeply before remembering the task at hand. He ran a comforting hand along Iori's back, and the boy finally unburied his face, looking up at Takeru somewhat ashamed.

"I-I'm sorry Takeru. The truth is, I'm not really good with scary movies. I just thought that I could handle it. I didn't want to seem like a baby or anything." The brunette then finally realized the position he had put himself in. As his blush deepened even more, he quickly tried to move off of Takeru's lap. However, the older boy held him firmly in place as he looked into the his friend's eyes.

"Listen, you have nothing to apologize for, " Takeru began. "I should've shown some better judgment. So don't worry about it, it's my fault. And this by no means lessens how I think of you. I already told you how much I admire your toughness. My first time in the Digital World, I was a huge crybaby. I cried at everything. Believe me, you're the farthest thing from it. We can just do something el-"

Takeru was cut off as he suddenly cut off as he felt Iori's lips press against his own...

* * *

Alright, so I know that was a bad place to end it, but the next part isn't quite finished yet. The next chapter should be the last one, I'm planning to wrap everything up there. Please read/review for this chapter, as it will encourage me to go faster!

Now for the surprise I mentioned, if you're craving some 'action' that this chapter was lacking, please check out my newly published Digimon Tamer one-shot "Punishment Game". It contains plenty of lemony goodness! Enjoy!


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